Evolution of an Etsy Shop: Part II

I joined Etsy on September 30, 2005, just a few months after the site first launched. I had been searching desperately for an alternative to eBay, which had always felt like such a vast and impersonal place to sell my artwork. I remember how excited I was when I came across a website specifically focused on handmade arts and crafts, because it felt like for the first time, I finally had a warm and cozy spot on the internet to call home. I had no expectations and no business plans, but I knew that this was the place I wanted to be . . . but what was I going to sell? I ended up going through several phases before landing on the whole "rubber stamp" idea, and waaaay back in the beginning I actually had a shop full of paintings and prints.

This was my very first sale on Etsy. A print of my "Secret Garden" painting.

A "Little Deer" painting on wood. Look familiar?

Crazy Llama

A Love Story

This is a video I made many, many years ago, back when I was still in art school and had an obsessive fascination with stop motion animation. I just had to try it out for myself. I must warn you that I am in no way an expert in film or animation so I admit that the result is a bit rough/clumsy (example: the scene with the macaroni pieces is supposed to say "NO", but from the audience p.o.v. it looks like "ON"! bahaha!), but I still remember having so much fun making it. I am currently going back to school to become an RN, and I really miss those days when I had the free time to experiment and do things, you know, just because! :-)



It was inspired by/an homage to one of my childhood favorites . . . Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet. The Andrews Sisters! Hats with eyelashes! How could anyone resist?



xoxo,
Nicole

Pleistocene Megafauna

Giant Sloth, Wooly Mammoth, Sabre-Toothed Tiger

Mega and mini sized things are cool. Regular sized...not so much.

(p.s. please disregard the awful handwriting)

:-)

Goats

Goats are not minions of the devil. I like goats, and I like drawing goats. Maybe it's because of their cephalopod-like pupils (which I have chosen not to depict in this instance), because as I mentioned earlier, I also like cephalopods. :)

Evolution

The evolution of an Etsy shop . . .

2007

2008

2009

2010

Hobo Boat

It's been raining for 3 days straight now and I have a lot of homework to do. . . goodbye summer.

Blue Water Baby

We're having a surprise baby shower for a friend tomorrow! She and her husband own a speargun company and they love diving and blue water hunting. Their son will probably be swimming in the ocean before he even learns how to walk! I drew this little guy and framed it for them. : )

Tiger...Uppercut! ;-)

The River Child

My kappa painting has finally found a home...it's off to Florida! =)

Mother's Day

Hope all the mommies out there had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Mola Mola

The Mola Mola a.k.a. giant ocean sunfish. They can weigh over a ton! I love these guys. They look like cartoon characters even in real life. =)

Sugar Glider

sugar glider gal.

Easter Bunny

Happy Easter!

Rainforest Zoo

Every now and then my boyfriend and I visit our local zoo to check out the animals and get some much needed exercise in too. (I hate going to the gym!). Hilo's zoo is the only tropical rainforest zoo in the United States and admission is free, although I'm sure they'd really appreciate a small donation. :0) Here's a sketch of a sloth and a tapir, two of the animals that can be found in the rainforest and at our zoo. (Well maybe not the tapir anymore but I'm pretty sure they did have one once).

Biffalo

Bison or Buffalo? Maybe Biffalo? But not Beefalo. :o)

Frog Prince?

Sorry I haven't come out with any new stamps lately! :o( I promise I've been doing a lot of drawing and I should be having a shop update...sometime soon? I must admit that I've been a bit distracted by school lately. I'm going back to school for nursing! Wish me luck. :o) Anyway, here's one of the random animals hanging out in my sketchbook. Wondering if he should be a stamp...

Cuddlefish

I was thinking of making one of these guys into a stamp but I'm not sure if everyone is as in love with cuttlefish/cuddlefish as I am! haha. :o) I saw some in person at Disneyworld once and I've been obsessed with them ever since. I couldn't believe how intelligent they were!

P.S. I just found this video on youtube that someone took of the baby cuttles at The Living Seas at Epcot (where I saw them too). Who knew cephalopods could be so cute?

Baaaaa!

Hobo Cat Picnic

Random drawing of my buddy Hobocat.